These next blogs are all about Bill!
This month has a lot of high points but the biggest one is Bill's 80th birthday.
On September 18th he celebrated his big 8 - 0 and we loaded the car and headed to CA so he could celebrate it with his sons and all of his grandchildren who will be able to show up. More about that in later blogs.
We all hope we look this good at 80!
The first day of the trip found us heading down I-5 out of OR and into CA. We left I-5 in CA at the Hearst Rest Area and continued on Hwy 199 which follows the Klamath River. This route was chosen for two reasons...1) all of it was new scenery for me, and 2) it took Bill past some of his old fishing haunts many, many years ago. It turned into a long, slow drive but Bill helped us pass the time with all his old fishing stories.
A slow spot of the Klamath
Of course, the drive would have gone a lot faster if we weren't continually stopping to admire the river and points of interest along the way. Happy Camp was one of those points of interest...
You just never know who you will run into along the road.
And the art didn't stop with the big guy above. The fish were really good if you could look pass where they were painted.
An old gas station.
The Post Office.
...and a rock!
We had to just tear ourselves away from all this culture and continue on the way if we were going to make it to Arcata for the night.
The next stop along the way was Soames Bar where Ishe Pishe falls was/were. Bill fishing story at this stop was fishing across the river from some bears that were after the same salmon he was and the big salmon he came back with. We didn't exactly find the falls as the flood and the years gone by had taken out the old bridge that was his landmark. We did follow the lady's instruction (at the general store at Soames Bar) about a trail that lead to the falls. We did find the trail but even for us it was too steep to get all the way down. Although we were able to get a glimpse of the falls through the trees.
It was getting onto late afternoon and we still had miles to go before Arcata so this was pretty much our last stop on the way.
Family story: Why is it the older you get the more often the stories start with many, many years ago.
Many, many years ago (see I told you so!) Monica and I made a road trip and we ended up in Arcata for the night. We came across this wonderfully great Italian resturant that was in the basement of a building on the town square.
Not knowing if it was still there from 25 years ago we inquired at the lodging where we were staying and was surprised to find out it was.
So we drove into town and the food was as great as I remember it.
Happy birthday to Bill !
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